Something BIG
by WitchHunter325
Summary: With Ultemicia's defeat, Galbadia is left without a strong ruler. With the army still loyal to him, Seifer quickly seizes control, sparking a war greater than any the world has ever seen.
1. The Young Revolutionary

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 is owned by Square Enix.

Something BIG.

Chapter One: The Young Revolutionary.

The veteran soldier watched as the reinforced door burst open and the man who was trying to kill the newly appointed Galbadian President strode calmly into the room. The soldier charged with a downward slash, but the enemy swung his gunblade diagonally upward from right to left. The blades connected, and as the soldier's weapon flew from his hands his eyes widened in shock. His fear lasted for only an instant, however, as the man thrust his gunblade forward.

Seifer Almasy pulled his blade from the soldier's chest, and as the corpse fell forward he casually swept it away with one arm. He advanced on the cowering Galbadian President, grinning as the man feebly raised his hands as if that would protect him. With a single cut, the pathetic excuse for a man fell to the ground.

As Seifer exited the Presidential Residence, another Galbadian soldier ran towards him. This one was wearing a red bandanna in place of his helmet, and as he reached Seifer he stopped and raised his blade to his shoulder in a salute.

"Sir, I have a report, Sir!"

"Go on." Seifer ordered.

"Sir! The outer perimeter of the city has been secured; no one can get in or out."

"Good. What about the fighting inside the city?"

"There is still heavy resistance in the east, and in several pockets around the rest of the city."

"Alright, anything else?"

The soldier's spirits fell. "Yes Sir, we intercepted a transmission requesting SeeD's assistance."

"SeeD huh? How long ago?"

"The transmission was intercepted at about 2100 hours sir, just under one hour ago."

"Well then, let's take care of this mess and be ready for them. Dismissed."

"Sir, yes sir!" The soldier saluted once more before running off to rejoin the battle.

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Balamb Garden, docked at Balamb Island.

Squall Leonheart awoke to a loud banging on his door. Standing up, he heard Quistis shouting. "Squall, we've received an emergency mission request." Squall opened his door as she continued, "Apparently, a large number of Galbadian soldiers have rebelled, and have taken over most of Deling City. General Caraway of the G-Army has requested SeeD's assistance in defeating the rebels. Also…" She trailed off for a moment before continuing, "The transmission wasn't perfect, but from what we could understand, it seems that Seifer may be responsible."

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Seifer charged the enemies' ranks, his gunblade slashing all around him as he cut down one soldier after another, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. The strongest enemy resistance was in the east, so that was naturally where he had gone. Now, as he rushed down the main street, that resistance was crumbling. With their positions broken by Seifer's attack they were unable to stop the rebel army from overtaking them. It would be only a matter of hours before the city was completely under Seifer's control.

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Squall and Quistis entered Cid's office, where an emergency meeting had been called. Cid and Xu were waiting inside. Cid began as soon as the office door was closed behind them.

"As I'm sure Quistis has informed you, General Caraway of Galbadia has requested SeeD's assistance in resisting a military coup which has already taken over most of Deling City. The request was received approximately twenty-three minutes ago, and although the transmission was imperfect, he provided a description of the man in charge. From what we could hear, we believe that he is describing Seifer Almasy."

"Do we have any more detailed information?" Squall asked.

"I'm afraid not, we received only the transmission I told you about, and have been unable to establish contact since then."

"Then we can't make a move until we know more. We should mobilize the Garden and head towards Galbadia, but hold off on any direct action until we know more about the situation."

"Alright, Squall, I'll send the order to all Garden personnel immediately."

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"Attention, citizens of Galbadia! From this day forward, the people of the Galbadian Empire shall serve President Seifer Almasy with unquestioning loyalty. Let this day mark the beginning of Galbadia's return to unrivaled glory!" The proclamation of victory was heard in every home in Deling City, but Seifer and his army did not stop to celebrate. As soon as the struggle was over, they began strengthening their defenses for the possibility of a SeeD assault, determined not to be defeated so soon after achieving victory. Civilians were called upon to aid with the effort, as well as to clear out the corpses and rubble left over from the battle.


	2. Old Enemies

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 8 is owned by Square Enix.

Chapter Two: Old Enemies.

1200 hours, the following day.

Squall sat in Cid's office, discussing their next course of action with the headmaster while Balamb Garden floated just outside of Deling City. Normally SeeD would not take such bold action until a mission had been accepted, but under the circumstances it was important that they keep a close eye on the city, especially with Seifer's involvement, which they were now certain of. They had seen the ex-Knight giving a speech to a large assembly of soldiers in front of the Presidential Residence, and that knowledge was leading them to a decision that would have far greater consequences than either of the two men could have known.

"Alright then, we attack tonight."

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Seifer watched as the large Garden floated above his city. He would have liked to attack earlier, but there had barely been enough time to patch up the city's defenses since his victory. As he watched, one of his officers came to him with a report.

"Sir, a large number of SeeD have engaged our troops at most major entrances to the city. We estimate that it will be less than an hour before our defenses are breached unless we send reinforcements."

Seifer thought about the situation for a moment, considering his options. The gates needed more soldiers, but he had a feeling that those attacks were just a distraction. Coming to a decision, he turned to the officer. "Send enough reinforcements to hold them off for a few hours, but I want most of the soldiers to stay spread throughout the city. SeeD wouldn't just try to force their way into the city; they're planning something." As the officer nodded and ran off, Seifer's predictions were proven correct. The Garden stopped above the plaza in front of the Presidential Residence, and countless wires were dropped from its sides, several SeeD sliding down each one. Seifer noted with a smirk that Squall was among them, as well as Trepe and "Chicken-Wuss." As his soldiers advanced on the attacking SeeD, Seifer calmly strolled forward, certain that Squall would come straight to him. He was not disappointed as his long time rival came crashing through the ranks of his army, Quistis and Zell close behind. Seeing Seifer's intent to engage the three personally, the nearby soldiers surrounded the area, but did not attack.

"Dammit, Seifer, what are you planning?" Zell shouted as he glared at the man in front of him.

"I already told you, didn't I?" Seifer began as he casually assumed a fighting stance, "I've always gotta be doing somethin' BIG!" With that, he and Squall charged, their blades meeting with a resounding crash. The two pushed away from each other, and Seifer quickly swung from left to right, then pulled back and stabbed at Squall's chest after the SeeD blocked the first swing. Squall again blocked, using his Gunblade to push Seifer's away and following up with a downward slash while Seifer was left open. Seifer narrowly avoided the attack by sidestepping to Squall's right, and then threw his left fist forward, catching Squall in the side of the jaw and forcing the SeeD to stumble away, struggling to keep his balance. With Squall temporarily out of the way, Quistis sent her whip flying at Seifer's head. Her target blocked with his Hyperion, and with a slight twisting motion he had the end of the whip wrapped around his own weapon. Yanking backward, Seifer pulled the whip from its owner's grasp and let it fall on the ground, as well as pulling Quistis to her knees. By now, Squall had regained his footing, and again charged at Seifer, bringing his Lionheart down with another overhead swing. Holding his Hyperion horizontally to block the incoming attack, Seifer heard rapid footsteps behind him. Stepping to his right, Seifer allowed Zell's fist to pass in front of his face before grabbing the martial artist's arm in his left hand while still blocking the Lionheart with his own blade. He then pulled Zell forward, towards Squall, and pulled back his Hyperion while stepping behind Zell, forcing his opponents to crash into each other and fall to the ground. Glancing at Quistis, he saw that she was just finishing a GF summoning. Galbadian soldiers were sent flying as an enormous rock burst from the ground behind Quistis followed by Ifrit. Seifer watched as the GF flew into the air and sent the massive boulder down at him like a comet. Seifer grinned, drawing his Hyperion over his head as he waited for the rock to reach him. Just before he would have been crushed, Seifer swung his blade, sending a crack through the rock that split it into two even halves. He then leapt up in between the two pieces, kicking off of them in turns to gain altitude until he reached Ifrit, who had remained after seeing his attack fail and was now falling to the ground. Coming up to the GF, Seifer swung his Gunblade horizontally, leaving a deep gouge in Ifrit's chest. Ifrit lost control of his fall and crashed to the ground before disappearing, while Seifer came down heavily on his feet, landing in a crouch several yards behind Quistis. Turning around, he saw Quistis, along with the now standing Squall and Zell, staring at him in shock.

"Come on, you didn't really think that such a weak GF could take _me,_ did you? Why don't you summon the other one and give me a real challenge?" Seifer couldn't see why they would be surprised by his beating a GF like Ifrit after what he'd done to that GF on the horse.

Squall quickly considered his options. He'd underestimated Seifer's strength, and even if they won, they would be in no shape to hold off the Galbadian soldiers after the fight. He had hoped that more of the soldiers would have been sent to the gates, but Seifer seemed to have seen through his plan, and there were now too many soldiers present inside the city. Coming to a decision, he spoke quietly to Zell, "We're retreating, get Quistis and grab one of the wires. I'll keep Seifer busy for awhile before I follow you."

Nodding, Zell ran towards Quistis, picking up her dropped whip on his way, while Squall charged Seifer. While the gunblade wielders fought, Zell told Quistis of Squall's decision, and the two forced their way back to where the bulk of the SeeD were still fighting. Reaching the still-dangling wires, they each grabbed hold of one while Quistis pulled out her radio.

"Attention all SeeD forces. You are to withdraw immediately and move to your designated retrieval points. I repeat, withdraw and move to your retrieval points." Receiving the order, the surrounding SeeD began to take hold of the nearby wires, which immediately pulled them back up to the floating Garden. When the surviving SeeD had all returned, the Garden began to move forward and gain altitude.

Squall deflected another blow from Seifer's Hyperion as he watched the Garden move. Waiting for the right moment, he launched a series of furious attacks, pushing Seifer back and giving Squall time to take hold of a wire as it was dragged past him. Sheathing his Lionheart, Squall cast a powerful Ultima spell as he was pulled away from his opponents. The spell blasted the Galbadian ranks, disrupting any attempt to hinder his retreat.


End file.
